In the rare occasion that my birthday falls upon a weekend, I do try to make the most of it. This year I really did push the boat out, though – starting with a huge afternoon/night out on Friday, followed by driving to Scotland on Saturday morning to visit my family for the rest of the weekend.
This morning when I dropped Elisha off at nursery, the assistant told me that they were already around the table for breakfast, so I should take her straight through. I did so, carrying Elisha to the main room and placing her on a small chair at the back of the table, while all the other kids gazed upward at me. It was at this point that I felt something on the back of my head.
I figured I’d maybe bumped into a paper mobile or something, and part of it had stuck in my hair. Kneeling down beside Elisha, I fanned my fingers and used them to trap whatever it was on the back of my head, bringing my hand back into view to see what was there.
“RAH!” I blurted involuntarily upon discovering a wasp, shaking my hand to free it.
This was followed immediately by a shower of cereal and milk, and then by frowned little faces – some of whom looked like they might cry.
To the assembled table of kids I guess it must have looked a lot like I’d pulled the wasp out of thin air and shouted “RAH!” as I set it upon them.
I left looking and feeling a little bit sheepish.
Today saw the final races in the Wanker Cup 2007 – an online GTR2 racing league I take part in with a great bunch of American guys I met over at Track Forum almost two years back, now.
In my first season, which started January 2006, I really struggled. I just never got to grips with the handling model of the original GTR game, leading to a whole load of frustration through throwing away races that I could and should have won.
Season two has been different. Well, a little different. Despite starting well with an early victory at Monza, I was pretty mediocre in some of the events that followed – sliding out of a hard fought 3rd place with around two laps to go at Valencia showed that I still had to find some consistency. Things got worse from there – I was away in Amsterdam for the event at Magny Cours, so didn’t pick up any points there, and then I parked it after being knocked out at the first corner at Hockenhiem. Essentially, I let a whole bunch of points slip away early on.